COLUMBIA, S.C. — An injured staff member, juveniles with weapons - all happening inside the gates of the Department of Juvenile Justice's center on Broad River Rd.
Law enforcement vehicles lined up outside of the entrance Tuesday morning after an attack that sent a staff member to the hospital.
State Senator Katrina Shealy, a member of the state's Correction and Penology Committee, said a youth attacked a staff member from behind, knocking him out.
"They did attack him, he kinda passed out and fell on the floor, and then some of the juveniles went into the workshop and they got some hammers and different tools out of the workshop, that was the weapons they had."
She adds the group then damaged cars within the facility before the situation was brought under control by guards outside of the building.
She says there was no guards in the workshop room when the attack happened, and notes the disturbance shines light on continuing issues at DJJ, specifically with a lack of officers.
"The biggest problem at the Department of Juvenile Justice is staffing...If there was enough staff, there would probably be one in every room, " said Shealy.
Just two weeks ago, DJJ director, Eden Hendrick told state senators that the Broad River Road facility was understaffed and facing a 52 percent vacancy rate with over 100 openings.
Shealy says the numbers are slowly improving but it's difficult to retain applicants.
She says she is optimistic about Hendrick's influence, however.
"We are building a new facility for the mental health concerns that we have out there, because there are a lot of mental health concerns at the Department of Juvenile Justice, so I think when that comes into play, that will help...She's (Hendrick) hired new staff that is over the JCOs [Juvenile Correctional Officers], she's hired a new police officer that's over the police department. She's hired other leaders in other areas...We have to give it time, I mean, nothing happens over night."
The link to an application for open positions can be found here.